A small but characterful square in the heart of the CBD, laid out in the 1860s on the site of the original Government House. Mature English oaks shade the lawns, and the centrepiece is an 1860 bronze statue of Sir John Franklin, the Tasmanian governor turned Arctic explorer who died in 1847 looking for the Northwest Passage. Franklin stands on a stone pedestal in the middle of an ornamental pond filled with carp.
The square is where workers eat lunch in the sun and where occasional weekend rallies and farmers' market overflow gather. The fine Public Buildings opposite (1885, with a pillared portico) house the Tasmanian Audit Office and various government departments and are worth a look from the outside.